Floods in southwest China began to recede as more than a week of torrential rains eased, leaving at least 178 people dead and more than 60 missing.

Seventy-five of the dead were from Chongqing Municipality, and 103 from neighboring Sichuan?Province.

Hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated and more than 300,000 homes were damaged across Sichuan and Chongqing.

Sichuan's disaster relief spokesman, He Rongjun, said another 10,000 people were sick or injured.

Even though the rains have stopped, meteorologists were forecasting at least three more major storms in the coming weeks. "We will not be moving any rescue workers from the front line so soon," He said by telephone from the provincial capital, Chengdu.

More than 5,000 soldiers were taking part in the emergency efforts, and one 19-year-old recruit drowned while helping with evacuations.

China Central Television showed residents jostling around empty plastic pails in Dazhou -- the hardest-hit city with 89 dead -- as emergency workers filled the containers with fresh water from a giant hose. Others were clearing streets filled with garbage, furniture and household items that were left after the water receded.

Electricity has been restored in the city, CCTV reported, and people have been provided with shelter and food. In Chongqing, more than US$2.4 million has been raised through donations.
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Some 200 medical workers were working in Chongqing's mountainous Kaixian County and 18 monitoring stations were being set up to guard against outbreaks of waterborne diseases.
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Summer rains wreak havoc across the flood-prone Yangtze practically every year, with torrents rushing down denuded slopes to menace low-lying plains in central China.

The storm is the deadliest natural disaster to strike the country this year. Last month, Typhoon Rananim and its aftermath killed 164 people in eastern China.

(China Daily via agencies September 10, 2004)